Turkish auto giant to export 400 buses to Romania

Turkish automotive giant Otokar has signed a deal with the Bucharest Municipality to supply some 400 buses.

The contract is the largest ever bus export deal ever secured by a Turkish automotive company.

Otokar, a subsidiary of the Koç Holding, in a statement, said that the company exports buses for public transport to 50 different countries.

As part of its deal with the Bucharest Municipality, Otokar will export as many as 400 buses in separate batches in 2018 and 2019. It will also provide after sales services for eight years.

The deal signing ceremony was recently held at the Bucharest City Hall, with city Mayor Gabriele Firean and Otokar General Manager Serdar Görgüç in attendance.

Apart from its native Turkey, Otokar buses have also been preferred by various European countries like France, Italy, Spain, and Germany.

Otokar General Manager Serdar Görgüç said they participated in the tender, held to meet the Romanian capital's increasing public transport needs, through its Otokar Europe, which was established in 2011 to better serve European customer. He added that major global companies from Europe and Turkey - Europe's bus manufacturing base - also participated in the tender.

"As Turkey's leading manufacturer of buses, we want to offer our most modern vehicles that are worthy of Bucharest. It is a great honor for us to be chosen by the Bucharest Municipality for not only the vehicles but also the after-sales services," he said. "Bucharest will have our largest fleet of buses after Istanbul. In many major cities in Turkey and Europe, we already have thousands of buses carrying passengers every day." He added that prior to the deal with Bucharest Municipality they received another order from Jordan's capital Amman which proves that their buses have performed well in the export markets.